I wish I could have those seven hours back

It’s finally over.

In a game that set my baseball IQ back 50 points just for watching it, the Mets have beaten the Cardinals, 2-1. In 20 innings.

Tim McCarver sounds loopy and might be five or six beers in for all we know. Kenny Albert has run out of things to talk about. Ken Rosenthal actually provided some interesting tidbits for once. I can only imagine what it must have been like to be a part of the broadcast in the production truck. If I, as a viewer, was sticking needles in my eyes watching it, I can only imagine what it must have been as a TV person working on it.

Kyle Lohse played left field. Felipe Lopez pitched an inning. Joe Mather pitched two. Yes, it got to that point. One can only imagine what happened to the poor high school players that were scheduled to take the field after the big leaguers were done.

Tony La Russa is a Hall of Fame manager. Jerry Manuel is one of the worst managers in recent memory. Both of them managed about as poorly as humanly possible in this game. La Russa made Albert Pujols ineffective by double-switching Matt Holliday out of the game and putting the pitcher spot behind the greatest hitter alive. It cost him. Twice.

Manuel steadfastly refused to use his best reliever, Francisco Rodriguez, yet somehow got away with it. Until Rodriguez came in to the game to protect a 1-0 lead in the last of the 19th and, having already warmed up six different times in the game, was too gassed to be effective and blew the save.

Why am I even talking about this? This was a game to both remember and to forget.

Looking forward to the series finale tomorrow.